Advancements in medicine have been able to extend the lives of millions, but when will it be possible to live forever?

Medical advances and and scientific breakthroughs keep increasing our lifespan. But what's the limit? How old can people born today expect to live and what's preventing us from living forever? One exciting piece of news regading longevity is that researchers from UCLA were able to extend life by 30% by turning on a single gene ... unfortunately it was only in fruit flies.

Our current understanding of aging says that over time, cells get damaged, and the build-up of these damaged cells are what cause a number of age-related illnesses. Researchers turned on a gene in flies that created an enzyme that got rid of these damaged cells and, in turn, caused them to live 30% longer.

Another well-documented way of extending life is through extreme caloric restriction. Rats on an extremely low calorie diet were able to live up 40% longer than average, and scientists suspect that glucose is the culprit. Glucose has the tendency to bind to DNA and other protiens, causing them to deform and malfunction, so glucose reduction can cause animals to live longer. There is no evidence that this practice works in humans and although it's not recommended by the medical community, there are a number of people who are eating extremely low-calorie diets with the hopes it'll work in humans.

Understanding telomeres is another important aspect to understanding aging. Telomeres act as protective tips of DNA strands, sort of like the plastic tips on shoelaces. Each time DNA replicates, telomeres get a little bit shorter. Without them, your DNA would start to uncoil and fray like the end of a rope, and this causes errors to occur when DNA replicates. This in turn causes DNA to create damaged cells and protiens. Geneticist Richard Cawthon thinks if we could get rid of all aging processes and repair cellular damage, humans could live up to 1,000 years.

The bigger question is: would we really want to live to be 1,000 years old? Plus it would cause all sorts of population and resource issues. But what do you think? What age would you like to live until?

I will say yes. Because it will allow me to learn more things. Plus more anime

Some of you may ask what about overpopulation ? That kinda easy to answer really. People who could live forever or hundreds of years could explored space or colonize planets for example.

In cased some of you did't know there a plan to colonize mars by 2024. If you are curious about that here more information on that. http://www.mars-one.com/ My point being is that we could really take advantage of something like this if we want to.

We live off of oxygen, an element so reactive that it's slowly killing us. There's a reason we don't see the organic material that existed before the oxidization of the earth (the oxygen killed them off except in the deep ocean). However, it's because our bodies use oxygen that we have chemical reactions strong enough to fuel our movement.

Maybe we can live forever, OR maybe we are already living forever and yes I would want to live for long as I want to experience a lot of things in life and I want to do all sorts of Things. Well somehow, the nature will take care of overpopulation

And that mars colonization sounds cool to me o.o can't colonize a country? Then let's go colonize a planet I like it

We live off of oxygen, an element so reactive that it's slowly killing us. There's a reason we don't see the organic material that existed before the oxidization of the earth (the oxygen killed them off except in the deep ocean). However, it's because our bodies use oxygen that we have chemical reactions strong enough to fuel our movement.

Living forever does't mean you can't die it just mean something like a disease or somebody have to kill you other wise you can't die. That what it means. Vatican city has no taxes. No all countries have taxes.

The Turritopsis nutricula jellyfish has displayed a remarkable ability to regenerate its cells in times of crisis.

While it is often joked that cats have nine lives, a certain species of jellyfish has been deemed “immortal” by scientists who have observed its ability to, when in crisis, revert its cells to their earliest form and grow anew. That means that these tiny creatures, 4 mm to 5 mm long, potentially have infinite lives.

The creature, known scientifically as Turritopsis nutricula, was discovered in the Mediterranean Sea in 1883, but its unique regeneration was not known until the mid-1990s. How does the process work? If a mature Turritopsis is threatened — injured or starving, for example — it attaches itself to a surface in warm ocean waters and converts into a blob. From that state, its cells undergo transdifferentiation, in which the cells essentially transform into different types of cells. Muscle cells can become sperm or eggs, or nerve cells can change into muscle cells, “revealing a transformation potential unparalleled in the animal kingdom,” according to the original study of the species published in 1996.

Since the Turritopsis’ virtual immortality was discovered, so have swarms of genetically identical jellyfish far from their original habitat, including in Japan, Spain and the Atlantic Ocean side of Panama. Researchers have concluded that these multiplying creatures are getting caught in ballast waters, water that is sucked into and pumped out of the long distance cargo ships. Polyps also could be growing on the ship’s hulls. Though genetically identical, these jellyfish seem to have adapted to their new environments. For example, specimens from swarms living in tropical waters have been found to have eight tentacles, while those discovered in temperate regions have 24 or more tentacles.

Yea extended life sounds nice but do you wanna be stuck in bed, frail, and not be able to do just about anything so you watch a little more anime? Sorry to get dark but living over a hundred in reality isn't that great.

Yea extended life sounds nice but do you wanna be stuck in bed, frail, and not be able to do just about anything so you watch a little more anime? Sorry to get dark but living over a hundred in reality isn't that great.

That wrong. They are trying to make you immortal and no stay in bed. Fix the Telomeres and your body will no get old or become weak. By fixing the Telomeres you can live possibly hundred of years with no being bed bound. They are trying make you immortal with none being bed bound, otherwise that will be the same as dead.

We live off of oxygen, an element so reactive that it's slowly killing us. There's a reason we don't see the organic material that existed before the oxidization of the earth (the oxygen killed them off except in the deep ocean). However, it's because our bodies use oxygen that we have chemical reactions strong enough to fuel our movement.

We live off of oxygen, an element so reactive that it's slowly killing us. There's a reason we don't see the organic material that existed before the oxidization of the earth (the oxygen killed them off except in the deep ocean). However, it's because our bodies use oxygen that we have chemical reactions strong enough to fuel our movement.